Samira Wiley
|Years Active = 2011 - present }} Samira Denise Wiley is an American actress known for playing the role of Poussey Washington in Orange Is The New Black . Early life Wiley was born on April 15, 1987 in Washington, DC, United States. Career Wiley studied theater at the Juilliard School in New York, graduating in 2010. She trained in theater performance and worked primarily in theater early in her career. In 2011, she played Maria in a production of Lost's Public Theater at Love's Labor . Wiley's first major acting role was in the 2011 comedy film The Sitter . When the Netflix television series Orange is the New Black- based on Piper Kerman 's memoir of the same name about her experiences in prison-came women, she was told about the auditions by a friend from Julliard, Marco Ramirez, who was a writer for the show. After she discovered that another Julliard friend, Danielle Brooks , had won the role in the show, Wiley asked Brooks to rehearse lines with her to prepare for her audition for the role of Poussey Washington, the on-screen best friend of Brooks' character. Wiley's audition was ultimately successful; she appeared in 12 out of 13 episodes of the series' first season and was featured throughout the second season. ... In between seasons of Orange is the New Black, Wiley filmed Rob the Mob, an independent crime film directed by Raymond De Felitta and released in March 2014. In 2013, she was rumored to be playing the Invisible Woman in the upcoming film reboot of the Fantastic Four. Personal life Wiley is from Washington, D.C., where her father Dennis W. Wiley and her mother Christine Wiley are the co-pastors of Covenant Baptist United Church of Christ. She has two siblings: Aiyana Kai Maat and Joshua Dhameer Wiley. She also has two nieces and two nephews, Asante, Akaiya, Akina, and Addae Maat. Her grandfather H. Wesley Wiley, also a Baptist minister, was known for being one of the first African American pastors to lead a predominantly white church in Washington, D.C.. Wiley is close friends with Orange Is the New Black co-stars Danielle Brooks, Adrienne C. Moore and Uzo Aduba. Just like her character Poussey Washington, she is openly lesbian. Since September 2014, she has been in a relationship with Orange Is The New Black writer Lauren Morelli. Lauren was previously married to her husband after 6 years of committed relationship. The couple married six months before the series started shooting, but during the recording of the show, Lauren had an "a-ha" moment, and suddenly realized that she was gay. The couple became engaged in October 2016, and married on March 25, 2017. Gallery Shot photo samirawiley1.jpg Samirawiley2.jpg samirawiley3.jpg samirawiley4.jpg samirawiley5.jpg Selfies samiraselfie1.jpg Samiraselfie2.jpg Samiraselfie6.png Samiraselfie4.jpg Samiraselfie5.jpg samiraselfie12.jpg Samiraselfie3.jpg samiraselfie9.jpg samiraselfie11.jpg Social media Samira Wiley's twitter is @samirawiley. Her instagram is @whododatlikedat. You can also find it on Facebook. Trivia She is now acting on The Handmaid's Tale along with fellow Orange actress Madeline Brewer. References Category:Cast